Monday, January 30, 2012

BOOK REVIEW
You open and read. Read, read. You grin. Grin, grin. Becky White's simple rhyming poem is an excellent book on a not-so-common story: the story of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag. White captures the method of creating the flag with snip, snip and a rib, rib and straight to indigo dye drip, dripping. Those who are familiar with the American flag will soon enough know what Betsy is sewing toward the end of the book. Lloyd's quilted illustrations are wonderfully fitting. Using fabric and embroidery floss every image is handmade and matches the clean poem. End notes from the author and illustrator are found in the back with the instructions on how to cut a star from fabric the way Betsy Ross would have done. A title to include in any collection, but especially for a Fourth of July collection that needs a boost in great story books for young readers. All in all, a perfect book.

CONNECTIONS

Provide scraps of fabric and have the children try making their own Betsy Ross star.

For older children, have them sew their own flag out of scraps of fabric by hand.

Who knew pancakes would be such an awesome success! As a storytime theme, I mean. Yes, a storytime theme! Sometimes I have the concern that a new theme won't go over well with the children, especially if there aren't a lot of books to choose from, especially for a certain age group. Well, one of the greatest things about storytime is that isn't always about the books you read. It can be about the activities and flannel boards that you can do! Both my Toddler and Preschool storytime were so well received that I deem this theme perfect! Take that any naysayers!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

Round is a Pancake written by Joan Sullvan Barnaski and illus. by Yu-Mei Han (T)
This books isn't entirely about pancakes, but its about round things, which is a great shape concept to introduce to toddlers.How to Make a Pancake written by Dave Max and illus. by Jeffery Ebbeler (T)
Almost very instructional in nature, but is a Easy Reader perfect for storytime nonetheless. There are cute little mice that help the chef make the pancakes so make sure to point them out. You can also emphasize the tall stack of delicious pancakes that was made and how the chef ate them all! Oy!Mr. Wolf's Pancakes written and illus. by Jan Fearnly (P)
A great take on "The Little Red Hen". The children thought it was funny when he tried to read a book that was upside down, and agreed how all his neighbors were rude! Everyone thought it was funny when he ate his neighbors then his pancakes! Sorry gave the plot away!If You Give a Pig a Pancake written by Laura Numeroff and illus. by Felicia Bond (P)
How can you not read this book???

Pat a Cake (T)
Pat a cake, Pat a cake
Baker's man.
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
You pat it and roll it
And mark it with a 'B'
Put it in the oven for baby and me!Mixin' Pancakes (T, P)
Mixin' pancakes,
Stirrin' pancakes,
Pop em' in the pan;
Fryin' pancakes
Flippin' pancakes
Catch 'em if you can!
Source: Youth Services Organization Program Page

Five Crispy Pancakes (T, P)
Five crispy pancakes in a frying pan,
Flip them and toss them and catch them if you can.
Along came (child's name)
For a pancake one day
Sprinkled with sugar and took it away.
Source: Youth Services Organization Program Page

Closing Rhyme: Touch Your Nose (T, P)

(follow actions)

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARDS

Mixin' Pancakes (T, P)
Before doing the rhyme I handed out little felt circles to each of the children. Moved our hips and arms when mixing and stirring, then we made our palm flat to make a pan to keep the circle on. Then when it was time to say "Catch 'em if you can" we all had to toss up our circles like pancakes and see if we could catch them. Toddlers and preschoolers LOVED it!!!!!!

Five Crispy Pancakes (T, P)
I used a large circle and a separate narrow rectangle to make a frying pan. Then I used five medium circles to make pancakes. I had the children one by one take a pancake off the board, which is a fun twist from the often activity of putting something on the board.

CRAFTS

Pancake Toppings (T)
The toddlers got to clue a brown circle to a paper plate and glue blueberry, strawberry and banana toppings.

Pancake Tossers (P)
Tape/glue (I recommend tape cause it's fast) a craft stick to the bottom of a small paper place, thentape a piece of string to the top of the plate then tape a brown circle to the other end of the string. Color and decorate your new frying pan. Then try to flip the pancake up and see if you can catch it! Craft inspired by
Source: Youth Services Organization Program Page

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

Egg Shakers (T)
Any Children's Librarian knows that you cannot be without egg shakers. I always have them on hand in my storytime room. Today I used them because I tied them into my pancake breakfast theme. The children love them! Remember to shake toward the sky, then down low by the toes, behind your back, by your tummy, from side to side, really loud and fast then really slow and quiet. Repeat as long as you want!

How Do You Top Your Pancake? (T, P)
After doing the Five Crispy Pancakes rhyme, I removed the frying pans handle, which is why I made sure the elements were separated, and the large circle becomes a plate! Genius, I know. The children had to put the pancakes back on the plate, and I handed out felt shapes that were blueberries, strawberries, bananas, pats of butter and splotches of syrup. One by one they had to put their fruit, butter and syrup on the pancakes! They loved it! I added a egg and bacon to the Preschool Storytime fun by asking, "What else can you eat with pancakes?".

PICTURES

Topped off pancakes from each of the programs! All the kids were budding chefs!

How Do You Top Your Pancake?, Toddler Storytime,
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2012

How Do You Top Your Pancake? Preschool Storytime,
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2012.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Elephants. Can't go wrong, right? They are truly one of my favorite animals. Believe it or not, when I was planning an elephant storytime in fall 2011, I had a little difficulty finding inspiration. However, the end result was so much fun, and I love my Special Activity and so did everyone else!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

I Love My Mama written by Peter Kavanagh and illus. Jane Chapman (T)I Dream of an Elephant written and illus. by Ami Rubinger (T)
Ask the children what color is on each page. Elephants Can Paint Too! written and pictures taken by Atya Arnold (T)
I shared the pictures but didn't read the text, but emphasized that elephants and children can do the same thing! How to Catch an Elephant written and illus. by Amy Scwartz (P)
It was fun to ask the children if they knew how to catch an elephant and what did elephants liked to eat. "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze" written by Patricia Thomas and illus. by Wallace Tripp (P)
You should read this dramatically!How the Elephant Got It's Trunk originally written by Rudyard Kipling (P)

Here Comes the Big Elephant (T. P)(follow actions)
Here comes the elephant,
He moves so slow.
He swings his long trunk,
to and throw.
He is SO big,
He can't even jump.
He sits down with a
Great big THUMP!
Source: Stratchcona County Library

Five Elephants in the Bathtub (T, P)
One elephant in the bathtub
Going for a swim
Knock, knock, (clap twice)
Splash, splash (pat knees)
Come on in! (beckon with hand)

Two elephants in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, knock,
Splash, splash,
Come on in!

(count up to five)

Five elephants in a bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, knock,
Splash, splash,
It all fell in!
Source: SurLaLune Storytime

Elephant Ear Headbands (T)
Each set was made with different color construction paper as it was inspired by I Dream of an Elephant book. The ears were so large and flappy even my boss thought they were a cute colorful herd!

"How to Catch an Elephant" Kits (P)
A kit of all the items needed to catch and elephant printed on cardstock and can be placed in a construction paper folded suitcase. I even had a wonderful dad draw and color a tiny little elephant for his daughter to put into her kit. Awesome!

SPECIAL ACTIVITY
I
showed an amazingly adorable video of newborn elephant Kenzi
from the St. Louis Zoo. I remember seeing her daddy, Raja, when he came out to visit the public! The video can be viewed on YouTube here or below!

I just :: love :: the music. It's perfect!

PICTURE

Such a lovely set of animals, no?

"How the Elephant Got It's Trunk" flannel board
created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2012.
Fold under the elephant trunk to simulate its short stump before
it's snapped and stretched by the crocodile!

How fun is it to just play around with farm animals?! Loads! I mean it! I've done a farm storytime for all ages a number of times over the years, and it never, never, ever gets old for me. There are so many good books out there to begin with, but the general concept of animal noises and the fun nature of it all makes this theme a classic!

B = Baby Storytime
T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

Clip, Clop written and illus. by Nicola Smee (B, T)
For Baby Storytime, have the guardian gently bounce the baby on their laps while we "clip-clop". For Toddler Storytime have the children clap their hands or pat their knees to the different speeds. Rosie's Walk written and illus. by Pat Hutchins (B)Cows in the Kitchenwritten by June Crebbin and illus. by Katharine McEwen (T, P)
One of my favorite books! It's so fun that you can't help but sing it! Barnyard Banterwritten and illus. by Denise Fleming (T)Cock-a-Doodle Quack! Quack! written by Ivor Baddiel and illus. by Ailie Busby (P)Z-Z-Zoink!written and illus. by Bernard Most (P)
This book is really funny, especially if you can get the children to go "z-z-zoink!" with you!

Sometimes I am Tall (B)(for Baby Storytime have the guardians help the baby stretch and bend.)
Sometimes I am tall (stand at full height)
Sometimes I am small (bend down close to the floor)
Sometimes I am very, very tall (stretch on tiptoes)
Sometimes I am very, very small (bend close to the floor)
Sometimes tall, sometimes small (stretch high, bend low)
Sometimes I'm just me (stand normally)
Source: Angie's Toddler Storytime Blog

Row, Row, Row Your Boat (B)(gently row you baby back and forward)
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

(gently rock your baby from side to side)
Rock, rock, rock you boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (B, T, P)(follow actions with your fingers and arms)
The itsy bitsy spider
went up the water spout.
Down came the rain
and washed the spider out!
Out came the sun
and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider
went up the spout again!

Old McDonald Had a Farm (B, T, P)
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O
With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there
Here a "moo" there a "moo"
Everywhere a "moo-moo"
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O

Continue with other farm animals:Sheep, Chicken, Pig,

BINGO (T, P)
There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O
and Bingo was his name-o.

(Clap with you see an *)
There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
*-I-N-G-O, *-I-N-G-O, *-I-N-G-O
and Bingo was his name-o

(Continue to repeat until you are nowclapping for all the letters)

There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
*-*-*-*-*,*-*-*-*-*, *-*-*-*-*
and Bingo was his name-o.Touch Your Nose (T, P)
(follow actions)

POEM
"Baby Chick" written by Aileen L. Fisher from the book The Bill Martin Jr. Book of Poetry edited by Bill Martin Jr. (P)

CRAFT

Peek-A-Boo Farms (T, P)
Children got to glue images of animals behind the flap doors of a barn that I created via a die cut. If you don't have die cut then you can find any image of a barn and cut open the door and windows easy enough with some scissors.

PICTURE
BINGO flannel board picture!

BINGO flannel board created by Dorothy, WP-CC 2012.
Used the hands to help everyone know when it's time to clap!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

We celebrated the Lunar New Year in storytime this week! For a "special holiday" type theme this is one that has a good number of books that work, which is exciting! A huge recommendation for Lunar New Year storytimes is to incorporate that year's zodiac animal into the stories, which is what I did for 2012, the Year of the Dragon. Here's what we did!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKSRed is a Dragon written and illus. by Roseanne Thong (T)
This book was great for the children to call out the different colors! Ten Mice for Tet written by Pegi Deitz Shea and Cynthia Weill, illus. by Ngoc Tran To and embroidery by Viet Dinh
A great counting book that is for celebrating the Vietnamese lunar new year. There's No Such Thing as a Dragon written and illus. by Jack Kent (P)

This Next New Year written by Janet Wong and illus. by Yangsook Choi (P)
I recommend this book for a Preschool Storytime that has some older preschoolers than younger.

Five Green Dragons (T)
Five green dragons making such a roar.
One danced away and then there were four.
Four green dragons dancing around a tree.
One danced away and then there were three.
Three green dragons dancing around you.
Once danced away and then there were two.
Two green dragons dancing in the sun.
One danced away and then there were one.
One green dragon having lots of fun.
She danced away and then there were none.
Source: OSM Library Blog

Five Little Firecrackers (T)
Five little firecrackers standing in a row.
One gets lit and off it goes!
It zips up high with a zoom, zoom, ZOOM!
Here it goes BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

(repeat until down to one firecracker)

One little firecracker standing all alone.
It gets lit and off it goes!
It zips up high with a zoom, zoom, ZOOM!
Here it goes BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Source: HCPL - Kidsite - Story TimeIn addition to the fire crackers I added little yellow starbursts that I had the children place on each firecracker when it goes boom! Even the shy ones eventually wanted to do it!

Closing Rhyme: Touch Your Nose (T, P)(follow actions)

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARDS

Five Green Dragons (T)See flannel board below!
Five Little Firecrackers (T)
The Legend of the Zodiac Animals story (P)This was my favorite part of the program. Check out my flannel board for it below!

CRAFT

Year of the Dragon coloring page (T)
Let them color to their hearts content and let them glue on bits of cotton balls for puffs of dragon smoke! Any dragon image would work; however, for toddlers, I picked Activity Village's dragon since it was super cute! (Activity Village link will open as a PDF).

Chinese dragon hand puppets (P)
These were easy folded sheets of construction paper with fun embellishments (eyelashes, googly eyes, teeth, and tongues). This was inspired by Craft Ideas for All.

PICTURES

Here are the pictures of my flannel board!

"The Legend of the Zodiac Animals" flannel board
created by Dorothy, WP-CC, 2012

Five Green Dragons created by Dorothy, WP-CC, 2012

OTHER FUN TIDBITS

If you're looking for more ideas for Lunar New Year, in 2010, I shared red envelopes containing stickers that looked like coins as a way to tie into the story of lucky money.

Monday, January 23, 2012

It's always and exciting time see the books, authors, and illustrators who have reached the high achievement of earning an award. At the American Library Association Mid-Winter conference the 2012 Youth Media Awards have been announced! This announcement is almost relatable to the Oscars or Screen Actors Guild Awards! Here are the list of winners and honors! Drum roll.....

Friday, January 20, 2012

BOOK REVIEW
"She's not one single big ordinary. And she's a little mysterious." A shy girl says at the beginning of this story. According to her, her best friend and fellow scaly crocodile (or are they little dinosaurs? I'm going with crocs!), Evelyn, can do anything. Evelyn is successful in quirky fashion, can tell amazing stories, is a decorator and artist extraordinaire, and so much more! All the while our nameless narrator says "I'm not.". However, one day she realizes that the things that Evelyn does not have the magic touch for, like spelling, karate and baking, she does has the touch for! The book ends with a perfect match of two friends, especially when they realize that Evelyn needs "A friend who is always by her side. Though thick and thin. A true-blue friend." and our own new crocodile friend yells, "I am! I am! I am!". To match the charming story is Weinstock's adorable illustrations detailing the differences between the two girls. If readers do not like crocodiles, wait till see these images! This is a amazingly great book to share with young readers (and even the adult readers) who are starting to notice the difference between them and others their age (friends and siblings alike!). This book will tell us all it is OK to be different and that opposites can make the best pair of friends (siblings) ever!

CONNECTIONS

Share the story with the readers then ask if they ever had felt the same the way before about a friend of a sibling.

Have the children list out what they can do different than their friend, and why it makes them awesome too.

Have the debate of whether the characters are crocodiles or dinosaurs!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

INTRODUCTION
I had the great misfortune to overhear a staff member tell a mother and daughter that if they cannot find a poem for a middle school project they could try downstairs in the adult nonfiction collection! :: Stop aching my heart! :: What made it worse was the shelver knew I (the Children's Librarian) was there and had never refer the transaction to me; but that is beside the point here. There are many, many, MANY children's poets out there and many of their poems can be perfect for a school project!

This poem, by the great Marilyn Singer, is from a collection of poems about the great orb in the night sky - the moon - as seen from around the world. Amazing work. This poem, and book, would be great for those in a Geography course or Multicultural course.

POEM

Staircase to the Moon
Broome, Australia
by Marilyn Singer

Under the sea, divers find pearls,
though non as big and round....as that jewel up high.
Its glow builds a magic staircase....from the mudflats to the sky.
Can someone climb and pluck that gem?
Our silly little cousins....dare themselves to try.

EXTENSION

In the back of the book there is an explanation for each poem. Share the story behind the poem above.

For those learning about Australia share this poem and its story then explore more about the pearls that comes from this little town.

Have the children find something that makes their town/city/community unique and have them write a poem about the characteristic they picked.

EXTRA TIDBIT
Here's an great extra tidbit for you folks! It's the story behind the poem. I thought it was so nifty cool that I had to share it! I really want to see this phenomenon now!

Broome, in the northwestern region of Australia, is a small town famous for its pearls and for a natural phenomenon called the Staircase to the Moon. Along Broome's coast are mudflats, lands that are left bare at low tides. When a full moon shines on the exposed mudflats, it creates the image of a staircase leading up to the moon through the sky. People from all over the world visit the town to view the "staircase," which can be seen for three nights each month from March to October. ~ Marilyn Singer, A Full Moon is Rising.

Friday, January 13, 2012

It's finally here! Next to the Texas Bluebonnet Award, I :: HEART :: the Texas 2x2 Reading List. If you are already familiar with this list, skip the rest of this beginning paragraph and go straight to the list below! For those who don't know about the 2x2, let me share it with you! The 2x2 Reading List is created by Children's Round Table of the Texas Library Association, and provides 20 recommended books for children from age 2 up to 2nd Grade. 2x2, get it?

I am quite excited to say that the majority of the books on this 2012 list were already on my list of favorite new books that my library now owns! Enjoy, folks!

About Me

Salutations! I am the owner of The Wielded Pen. Educated in English and Children's Literature, I am an avid reader, an aspiring writer and artist, lover of travel, and, all-in-all, a Super Children's Librarian.